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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lent for the Non-Catholic (Year 2)

My first trip to the Big Apple was Christmas of 1996 and I was immediately struck be the sheer lack of smiling going on in the city that never sleeps. Over the course of the week I was in town I decided that I would single-handedly try to increase the smile factor of the cozy 8 million residents by coaxing out their smile reflex.

If I could smile...a genuine smile...at every single person I encountered, perhaps a few would return the gesture.

Although I didn't get too many in return, I celebrated each one with a little jig and a holler.

Fast forward to several years later when my baby brother and I were out rollerblading while he was in town when he asked me if I was doing that "smiling-at-people" thing, because after they passed me he was getting a ton of smileage. <--Yep, I just made that up.

Cue, this year's lenten resolution to smile more and often...I dare say at anyone and everyone that crosses my path.

Also, I'll be wearing that yellow scarf up there for at least some portion of each day.